Burn
by D. M. Evans
Summary: What makes the Flame Alchemist burn?


1Burn

Fantrack #3

D M Evans

Disclaimer - not mine, all characters belong to Hiromu Arakawa et al, Square Enix and funimition. I don't make a profit

Rating - PG

Time Line - Some time after Ed joins the military but before the bulk of the action once he hits fifteen.

Pairing - Royai

Summary – What makes the Flame Alchemist burn?

Author's Note - This was written for the Fantrack sound track, inspired by Marty Stuart's _Burn Me Down . _ Thanks to evillittledog for the beta.

Uniforms hide a multitude of sins, not that Roy thinks Hawkeye has many to hide. Rather, he's glad that the uniforms tend to make them all sexless. While not a jealous man, there are some things about the lieutenant he'd rather not be too obvious since she spends her days surrounded by men and one of those things was that under the blue jacket lay a killer body. What a lucky gun to get to ride on a hip such as hers all day.

Roy knew he really had nothing to fear from his men where Riza was concerned. Fuery was mildly terrified of her. Havoc damn well knew better than to try and Breda and Falman never seemed all that interested in her. Of course, at work, he did his best to look uninterested as well. The last thing anyone needed was for him and Hawkeye to be caught fraternizing. At work, it was easy to look like she barely tolerated him.

Contrary to popular belief, Roy wasn't lazy. He could work feverishly on things that mattered to him. No one knew how hard he had trained to achieve the secrets of flame alchemy at such a young age; well no one but Riza who had seen the obsession first hand. Everyone seemed to think he coasted into being one of the youngest colonels in the military. Riza and Hughes understood that he hadn't gotten there on charm. He had gotten there on the backs of burnt Ishbalans as much as he hated himself for it. Hughes understood the inherent dangers of Mustang's position. The older generals feared him so it didn't pay to look too ambitious in the office.

That was easily accomplished. Paperwork bored him. It was easy to shirk that and look lazy. His men knew it was a game. They played along even when he came out of the office barking at them. Even young Fuery had caught on to that. They took care of him and when the time came he'd take care of them. He owed a lot to the overall coordinator of project slack off and still get things done in the end. Hawkeye made sure what needed to get done did and that built in Annoyed-with-Mustang-I-should-shoot-him was worth it just in case the Higher Brass were watching.

Today, however, Roy just couldn't keep his head in the game. He was kicked back in his chair, feet on the desk, phone resting on his shoulder. He wasn't really listening to Hughes on the other end. Two year olds just weren't that interesting, no matter what Maes thought. Besides, Roy had already heard the story about Elicia, the tea set and her stuffed animals.

Roy had other things on his mind. Most importantly that it was Hawkeye's birthday. The men of the office were trying to be nice and actually doing their work without her pushing them. They had even chipped in and gotten her a basket of sweets from the candy shop. He had allowed her to bring Hayate into the office but at the moment the dog was with him, licking dangling fingers as Mustang daydreamed.

He'd go to Hawkeye's tonight and they'd have their own special celebration. He had learned a trick with sparkling wine and pureed fruit to make a sensual drink that he couldn't wait to try on her. He already had chocolate covered strawberries, blackberries and gooseberries at home in his ice box along with the preparations for a romantic meal. Roy could cook, though not many realized that. He hadn't had a lot of money to pay for his training with Hawkeye's father so he worked off his debt, cooking for the family, cleaning house, doing whatever his Teacher needed him to do. He'd use that to his advantage tonight. Granted, he was better with things that required an open flame but he was no one-trick pony.

Roy's mind slipped off the thoughts of dinner, right to the highlight of the evening where he'd get to see everything hidden under that uniform. His own uniform got uncomfortably tight in certain areas as his mind ran through a few of his favorite scenarios. Roy was only partially aware of the fact that Maes was calling his name.

"Roy, are you listening?"

"Huh?" Roy mumbled. "Oh, sorry, Hughes, just thinking. It's someone's birthday today." Roy could almost see Hughes thumbing along the calender then knotting his brow when he realized what Roy meant.

"I'm telling you about my beautiful little girl and you're thinking about _that_!" Maes snapped, correctly assessing what Roy was thinking about.

"Shouldn't you be working, Hughes?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Hawkeye said from the doorway.

Startled, Roy swung his feet off the desk and tried to shove under it in a vain attempt to hide certain indiscretions. He managed to nearly ram said indiscretion into his desk and did manage to grate it painfully along the underside of the knee-hole. He sucked in a deep breath to stave off the pain. "Hughes, gotta go. Hawkeye's glaring." He hung up the phone. "Sorry, I was busy."

"Yes, wasting time with Lieutenant Colonel Hughes again," she said but the heat of her voice wasn't matched by her eyes. Those hid a smile in them. "Reports for you to fill out, sir. And could you help us? We need to move a file cabinet in the other room."

"Umm, could it wait a few minutes?" Roy said, trying to hide more of his lap with the desk.

Riza peered over the edge and rolled her eyes at him. "What were you two talking about as if I want to know?"

"I have no idea what Hughes was yakking about. I was thinking about someone's birthday," he said in his defense.

"Really, sir, do try to limit the time you waste daydreaming in the office. Sign these then. I'll go hunt down Breda to move that file cabinet." Riza slapped the paperwork down, whistled for her dog to follow and left. Roy treated himself to watching what little he could see of her backside in that uniform. The rest he could fill in with his imagination.

Roy regained his questionable self control and signed paperwork until he heard a ruckus in the anteroom. He got up to investigate, suspecting he knew the cause. Sure enough, the flowers he had sent to Riza had arrived and they were gorgeous; pale pink Gypsophila interspersed with red roses and bright pink peonies. Riza was busy wrestling the gift card out of Havoc's hands.

"What did it say?" Breda asked.

"All I say was 'secret admirer and something about kisses like flame'," Havoc replied. "Come on, Hawkeye, give us a look at it."

"No."

"Who is he? You can tell us," Havoc wheedled. Riza placed her hands on his desk and glared at the man. The cigarette drooped on his lip. "Never mind."

"The flowers really are pretty," Fuery said, looking up from where he was petting Hayate instead of doing his work.

"They are, Lieutenant," Mustang said, leaning on the door frame. "Secret admirer?"

"For my birthday, sir." Hawkeye looked at him, her gaze lingering for a moment but nothing could be read there.

"You made her work on her birthday, boss?" Havoc cast a baleful eye at Mustang.

"Made? She volunteered to," Roy said sauntering over for a sniff of the flowers he had bought.

"Tomorrow's the weekend. Three days alone...well let's just say it doesn't appeal," Riza said.

"What alone? Go find the guy who wants to know how hot you kiss." Havoc gestured to the flowers, his eyes flicking towards Mustang.

Riza shot Havoc another withering glance. "I'll be fine, thanks."

"Still, why don't you take the rest of the day off, Hawkeye. Go home, enjoy your flowers and the candy, take Hayate for a stroll, enjoy yourself. It's my gift to you. Happy birthday," Roy said with a smile.

"Well, there goes any hope of you finishing your duties before the weekend." Riza just shook her head and started packing up to go home.

Roy went back into his office and actually did his work so she'd be happy with him over the weekend. He didn't want anything to get in the way of them enjoying themselves. He stopped by his apartment after work to change into some rather non-descript clothing. Roy picked up the dessert and the items to make dinner then let himself out the back just in case anyone was watching. This was going to be an amazing night.

XXX

A hand brushed Roy's cheek drawing him out of a pleasant dream. He was vaguely aware of Hayate whining. Riza ran a hand through his hair. "Roy, could you take Hayate for a walk?"

"Hmm, what time is it?"

"Very late. Please. You made me very...relaxed." She smiled at him, her hair tickling down over his shoulder.

He chuckled, very satisfied with himself. Roy kissed her then swung out of bed, rooting around for his pants. He shoved his feet into his shoes and tugged on his shirt before going into the other room to get Hayate's leash off the hook. "Come on, boy."

Roy took the dog out for a walk, thinking this might be reason to get a cat. The streets were deathly quiet as Hayate roamed around inspecting places to go. The wind was cool and Roy could smell the storm brewing. "Hurry up, Hayate. Any place will do! I left a perfectly good nest for this."

Hayate refused to be hurried. The little dog jumped as thunder cracked and then the sky opened up drenching them in cold rain.

"Damn it, dog! Just pee already!"

By the time Hayate selected the perfect spot to do his business and they made it back to the apartment, Roy was soaked to the bone. Hayate made sure to shake off right on him. Roy tried to walk and tug on his chafing pants at the same time. Riza met him at the door with a thick towel.

"Poor thing." She sympathetically patted his hair with the towel before surrendering it to him.

Roy stripped off his sopping clothes and hung them over the backs of chairs in the kitchen, standing there naked save his towel. "You need a cat or a dog that will just do his business in a timely fashion."

"Usually I have to keep Hayate from hosing everything," she said, taking his hand.

"Maybe it's me he doesn't like. I'm soaked."

"I know." Riza kissed him. "Come back to bed." Roy didn't need more urging. Riza wrapped her body around his when they got back under the covers. "I have to ask about the gift card, Roy." She snuggled her head against his chest.

"Did you like the flowers?"

"They were beautiful but...do you really think that about the way I kiss?"

Roy rolled so he was on top of her, kissing her for emphasis. "Dear birthday girl, do you know how much time I lose dreaming about your kiss? I might be the Flame Alchemist but you're the one who makes me burn."


End file.
